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The team jumped on a bus at 7:30 this morning and made our way to the ski area of Arcalis for the teams race. On the line today was:

Reiner and Ian

Alex and James

Andrew and Jeff

Melanie and Julie

the last ascent

The course itself was 7560 ft of vertical gain and loss over 23 km. The course was run almost all in the backcountry around the resort and with all the recent snowin and blowin, alot of hard work had to go into making the route safe. We were told in the briefing before the race to stay close to the race flags as there was only a corridor of safety guaranteed. It was an amazing venue for the teams race, big burly terrain and I was amazed at how well the European teams handled it all. The type of course that’s acceptable here is at another level, racers are expected to have a really high level of mountaineering skill, in addition to fitness and downhill skiing.

The race itself was one of the best I’ve done, challenging and well thought out. We climbed 3 separate peaks and were awarded amazing views. James and Al (33rd)rallied hard on the last ascent and were able to stay ahead of Reiner and myself(34th), finishing as the first Canadian team across the line. Just behind us were Jeff and Andrew(35th) keeping the pressure on us on all the descents. The women showed amazing team skills finishing 9th in a really strong field. Check out the video below of them on the second ascent with the first and second mens teams(staggered start).

This race format is really exciting, allowing for longer more technical courses and has all of us buzzing about a new teams race in Canada next season….